When Vicky Hausman rolled out her fundraising goal to help Democrats running in statehouse races across the country this cycle, she was eyeballing an ambitious $25 million from her deep-pocketed allies behind Forward Majority, a super PAC. Then the number climbed to $35 million. And once Vice President Kamala Harris took over the Democratic ticket, Hausman and her pals were able to add another $10 million to their spending plan.
All told, Hausman now is on pace to spend $45 million to elect lawmakers who, in some cases, draw zero salaries for their service.